C03

Alexander's grip on her thigh had tightened just a bit more, instead of releasing her, he swiftly set the mug down and pulled her around to sandwich her between his body and the counter. Theia's hands reached for his shirt, holding onto him to keep from falling while also taking a minute to process what the hell was happening. She had figured that the little banter between them would only amount to some name-calling and some light angry disputes, but when he let her leg raise high over his hip, she had begun to regret opening her mouth.

"You talk big for someone who can barely own up to her shit" he spoke, whatever glow of light from under the kitchen cabinet illuminating parts of his face as he spoke.

"Give me a break. You know, the way you act makes me think that you're almost jealous of Cael" pulling her leg back, or at least attempting to, she had hoped to remove her leg and run away quickly, but the man's momentary laughter made her freeze. In a split second, his hands grabbed her at the hip and hoisted her up on the counter while he settled between her legs, arms on either side as he leaned over her.

"You mean that I'm jealous you like Cael and not me?" he asked, in the most devious, taunting, and mocking manner. Why had she brought this up? Her ego didn't let him tease her, but every time she tried to one-up him, he had found a way to twist her words around to his liking.

"Mhm, in fact, you might even be secretly in love with me," yes of course, why not add fuel to the flame?

"Oh? Go on. What other nonsense can you possibly come up with?" he snorted in amusement, moving his hands from the counter to hold her at the cheeks, pulling her closer and speaking over her lips.

"If you're not, then why does it bother you so badly? I don't even know why you hate me so much!" she pulled his hand down from her face, so frustrated she hadn't noticed she was shouting at him. Alexander on the other hand was calm, he hadn't flinched at her anger, and he hadn't pulled back when her nails sunk right into the back of his hand, digging into his skin. She was angry, mostly at herself for having this stupid argument with him, for letting him get under her skin and for even being affected by how he treated her. She didn't know why she cared so much about what he thought. She didn't. She didn't care, she just wanted to crawl back into her bed and sleep her anger off. There was no point in having a conversation with this man or even trying to.

"I don't hate you" was the only thing he said, his voice softer, a bit less rough and the sudden hand on her thigh had sent a jolt of electricity right up her skin. Suddenly, nothing made sense, her mind had blanked and her chest was tightening uncomfortably. What the hell did that mean?

"Don't fuck with me Xander, everyone knows you hate my guts. Christ. Let go of me, I'm leaving" Theia moved to push him away, her palms flat over his chest but his hand on her thigh only inched up, creeping around her waist and instead forced her to the edge of the counter so that her legs had no choice but to stay rooted around him.

"I hate the idea of you and my brother, but that doesn't mean I hate you" his face was so close to hers, she had to take a minute to remember how to breathe.

"Well you're not in love with me either, so what exactly do you want from me?"

"Mh, correct. Neither hate nor love. I seem to hate that ridiculous act you put on around my brother, but I do love seeing you all frustrated over me. Why don't you tell me pixie?" he asked. Theia was astonished, truly beyond words at the ridiculous things that had just exited his mouth. Either he was a psychopathic asshole, or he was intentionally saying this to rile her up.

"You sir, need to see a fucking doctor, now let go" she demanded, this time he released her, merely a look of amusement in his eyes once again as he stepped back so that she could get off the counter and scramble off.

Theia slammed the door to her room shut, making sure to twist the lock in place and pressed her back against the flat of it, she had to take a minute to catch her breath since she had run so fast she almost tripped over her feet trying to hurry back to her bedroom. He was only teasing her, he was trying to make things difficult for her by screwing with her head. Wrapping her arms around herself, she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them once more and looking at the ceiling with a deep sigh. He had barely rested a hand on her thigh yet she felt as though she could still feel the creeping warmth on her skin from his hand that had held her, and the faded scent of his cologne around her nose.

He didn't strike her as the type to wear scents, and if she had to choose one, a hot load of cattle dump would be the only good scent that fit him. Sadly, the man was a perfectly mild mixture of Cedar wood and something soft, she just couldn't put a finger on what it was. Pushing away from the door and stepping towards the bed, the first thing she did was fall flat over the bed and switch her lights off, ignoring her notebook and binder on her bed, and choosing to just curl up in a tight ball. Monday was only a few days away and then she would be at college, back in class and focused on other things.

Monday morning greeted her with the smell of blueberry muffins, pancakes and sugary waffles. Though the girl had more of a savoury taste palate, she didn't mind any of the food prepared for breakfast, she happily sat down and munched on the fruits as well while making small talk with the chef and maids.

"Really? Soooo, about Cael..." she inquired, easily slipping in his name during their conversation about Apple tarts and how she had never been a large fan of fruit in her desserts.

Thankfully, she had gotten them to talk about him much easier than expected, learning most of the obvious, like how he was very kind and warm and often gave them longer holidays and less work to do around the holidays. It was nothing new to Theia, she had struck gold when one of Thian's friend's who worked directly with Cael became close enough to tell her about Cael's everyday life, and the life he had outside of the workplace as well, most of which included lounging at the casino and focused on expanding his business. Dani St. Claire was much older than Theia, she was also blessed in all the right areas, a lot more plump on the hip and gifted on the chest, it was often the eye of envy that fell on the older woman.

Dani worked closely with Cael, not quite a secretary, not quite a business partner, all she knew was that her days at the casino were often in line with Cael's and from that she had filled Theia in on his after-hour lifestyle. Maybe, at the back of her mind, Theia thought the two would look good together, they were both tall and beautiful creatures. With Cael's larger physique, he would easily match Dani's plumpness quite well, unlike hers. Theia was shorter, barely five feet six, with a narrow hip and chestnuts for breasts. Sure with a good enough bra and some decent lighting, she could contour her boobs to look good, but there was not much to work with in the first place. At one point she was even begging Thian to get her some implants, to which she had an earful and the talk about joining a gym to work on her glutes. By far the worst experience she could have.

She didn't hate her body, she just didn't feel as confident in it, and more so next to someone who looked good in anything she wore. When the maids had perked up suddenly, bowing their heads and looking behind her, she had already guessed who joined them in the kitchen, choosing to ignore his presence, she munched on the blueberry muffin and pretended to busy herself with breakfast.

"Ignoring me?" he spoke into her ear, leaning over her from behind and intentionally pressing against her back as he did so. Swallowing hard and grabbing the tea to sip on it, she hesitated for a second before speaking.

"Can I help you Mr Kasimir?" she asked, scooting her stool away from him as he lifted a hand and dismissed the maids and chef for the time being.

"I had a look at your schedule for the week, it would be best to switch as many as you can to online classes so that you don't have to go in every day"

"We are halfway into the semester, that's impossible" she shrugged. Who the hell was going to accommodate for her? Clearly, he didn't know how colleges worked.

"Nothing is impossible" he countered.

"Listen, I don't think you get how college works old man. Lecturers don't just shift things around for students because you ask nicely" she was sincerely contemplating driving this butter knife into his skull, but for now she faked a smile and went back to her muffin.

"They will if you ask nicely with a gun to their head" he snorted and Theia all about choked. Getting up to get herself a glass of water, she wiped her mouth and gave him a look that said he was a fucking lunatic.

"Christ. Are you nuts? No, don't answer that. I'm not threatening my lecturers to shift my schedule around, what the hell is wrong with you?" she should have gotten used to his ridiculous suggestion but it was starting to get ridiculous.

"I'll deal with it then. Go get ready, we leave in thirty" he took a bite into the red apple and checked his watch, turning to head out the door when he paused and looked back at her. She half expected him to say something snarky and annoying, but he didn't, instead, he looked at her slowly, taking his merry time to drag his eyes over her like he was doing some inappropriate looking and then stepped out of the kitchen with ease. Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, the girl took another gulp of water and then went upstairs to change.

One dark blue jeans and a simple white shirt later and Theia was ready. She shoved her books and stationery into her backpack, slung it over her shoulder and made her way down to the front door to fit her simple white slip-on sneakers and head out the door. Sure enough, Alexander was outside, dressed in a shirt that almost appeared one size too small, neatly tucked into his pants and over his arm was a thick leather coat she had seen him in a few times prior. Unlike Cael, he didn't roll the sleeves up, neither did he show much skin, seeing his neck was damn hard enough, those leather gloves of his weren't only there for show. Watching him taking a pull of his almost finished cigarette as she stepped towards him, she folded her arms and glared.

"So not only do you drink straight poison you also kill your lungs daily huh?" she reached for the cigarette between his lips and pulled it away, only to have her wrist caught midair.

"Something has to keep me alive" he released her hand, took the cigarette once more to his lips and took another breath to finish it before flicking the bud off.

"Gee, I sure couldn't tell" sarcasm was starting to become her second language. He didn't say anything else, walking around to get in and wait for her to sit. Once the door had closed, the man mashed the x like he was in a damn race, barely giving her a chance to properly buckle up. If there was anything she knew, it would be that today was going to be hellish.